


Times Are Changing (Haikyuu!! X Hunger Games)

by TheRoomWhereItHappened347



Category: Haikyuu!!, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Changing POV’s, Hinata Shouyou & Kageyama Tobio Friendship, Hinata Shouyou & Yachi Hitoka Friendship, Hinata Shouyou-centric, Hunger Games AU, M/M, Major Character Death (but later), Spontaneous updates I’m sorry, Tags will be removed later on, The POV will change in the chapter and not by chapter, The first few are Hinata’s though, The only ships that are dating during the Hunger Games are BokuAka, This is a mix of Hunger Games and Catching Fire, and kuroken, currently being edited, iwaoi - Freeform, this is gonna be a ride for you and me so buckle up cos I feel bad already
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:27:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24252805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRoomWhereItHappened347/pseuds/TheRoomWhereItHappened347
Summary: Hinata Shoyou thought he knew what he was signing up for when he volunteered to take his sister’s place in the Hunger Games.Clearly he didn’t.
Relationships: Bokuto Koutarou/Akaashi Keiji, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kuroo Tetsurou/Kozume Kenma, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 10
Kudos: 47





	1. The Beginning (Part 1)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for choosing to read this fan fiction!  
> A few things before you start:
> 
> 1) This is a mix of The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, so not everything will be like the actual series. 
> 
> 2) I cannot promise regular chapter updates (sorry) but I will try my best to update as much as possible. Quarantine = more work to do during the day and this story is for fun! 
> 
> 3) Please go check out my other fan fictions (yes this is self promo)
> 
> 4) Please leave comments- they motivate me! If you see any grammar errors please tell me so I can fix them, and if there are any plot holes or mistakes, please tell me!
> 
> 5) Please leave kudos and enjoy the story!  
> (Edit: I have exams rn and they won’t finish until the 4th of November)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) When I say editing this thing was a bitch to do I mean it. 
> 
> 2) So I may or may not have left this fic in my documents gathering dust until recently (tbh I chose a bad time to do it) but it has so much potential! I’m editing the scenes considering my writing style has changed (constant writing style? Don’t know her) and the POV will change from 1st to 3rd. 
> 
> 3) From today (19/10/20) chapter 2 will be deleted until I have edited it (it won’t be up until sometime next week though). 
> 
> 4) I hope you enjoy this! Leave a kudos and comment at the end and please tell me what you think of the changed writing style once I get to it!

Reaping Day seemed so long ago, even if it had been a week ago. 

Lying in bed, I wondered what would’ve happened if I hadn’t volunteered for Natsu.

Reaping Day was always a day when the anxiety of all children aged 12-18 was high, with parents even more worried. No one wanted to be chosen, but whoever had bad luck that day was forced to suffer.

Two names would be chosen, gender irrelevant, and would be sent to play the Capitol’s sick game. Why the hell did they think this was amusing? 

Being in District 12 put us at the highest disadvantage, considering we couldn’t learn our trade until we were 18, so no one in this district had won in decades.

“Shoyou, can you come help me with my hair?” Natsu asked, her head protruding through the the crack between the bedroom door and the wall. 

“Sure, come sit on the bed and I’ll do it,” I replied, giving up my attempt to sort my hair out. 

Natsu’s hair was fairly short, however it was long enough to put in small pigtails. She looked adorable, her light blue dress complimenting her orange hair. 

I didn’t have anything really nice to wear, so Mum had helped by finding a white shirt with mid-length sleeves and black trousers. 

“You look really pretty Natsu,” I commented as she looked in the mirror.

“T-thanks Nii-san.” Damn, she must be really nervous. 

“Natsu, you know I would never let anything happen to you, right?” I asked softly. 

“Of course I do Nii-san...but please don’t do anything stupid.” 

“Shoyou, Natsu, come downstairs!” Mum called from the kitchen. 

Our house was fairly small, with Natsu and I sharing a bedroom and Mum having her own, a bathroom, kitchen and a small area to relax or do work. We couldn’t help it though, since we were only living on one income. 

Dad had been taken away by a mining accident a few years ago, Natsu being only 6 and me being 10. Natsu didn’t remember Dad too well, however I did. 

I didn’t like the mines, but in the future I could hopefully go into a better job like being a doctor so I could provide for family. 

“Both of you come here,” she softly commanded, both her arms outstretched, awaiting hugs from both of us. It’s not like we wouldn’t oblige either. “I’ll see both of you later, okay? Promise you’ll be brave?” 

“Promise.” Both of us replied, Natsu finally releasing her shaking breaths as tears trickled down her face. 

“Hey, Natsu,” I said quietly, “you’ll be back before you know it.” She gave a weak smile as she rubbed away her tears.

Most of the process had passed by, my nerves blurring how I queued with others to sign a sheet and take a blood sample acknowledging we were in the Reaping. 

The last thing I remember before the names were drawn was hugging Natsu and reassuring her she would be fine. Boy was I wrong. 

Standing next to someone -I couldn’t remember many of the people from that day, my nerves were overwhelming me and my senses. I could feel my heart thumping against my chest, almost as if it would explode. 

I was close enough to see what all the people on stage were doing, but for the people nearer to the back and parents, there were screens and speakers. 

The Mayor of District 12 -a man named Rewarai- stood on the stage with his wife and the previous /winning tribute/ of District 12, a man named Ukai. I didn’t remember the year he had won, it was before I was even born and no one in District 12 had any copies of previous years. 

Ukai was smoking from the look of it, but a woman walked on stage and he stopped, crushing the cigarette under his boot. 

The woman must’ve been a new presenter or something, because most presenters from the Capital were dressed like them, all fancy and covered in makeup, but she was different. 

The woman wore a plain red skirt and a black shirt with gold lines going down it. She had golden earrings and her black hair was down; overall, she looked modest compared to the other people in the Capitol.

Rewarai walked towards the podium with a microphone on it, tapping it, quieting the murmuring of District 12. He must’ve given a long speech about something line he normally did, because people were clapping before he silenced them again. 

“Now, to announce the Tributes for the XX year of the Hunger Games, Tenaizo Omira.”

“It’s a pleasure to be here today, thank you for the warm welcome.” Tenaizo bowed slightly before addressing the crowd. “Now, for the event you’ve all been waiting for, the Reaping!” She grinned, showing her sharp canine teeth. Wait, sharp canine teeth? She wasn’t as normal as I thought then. 

There were two bowls, probably to stop Tenaizo from having to dig around the bowls too much. 

She walked over to the bowl on the left side filled with folded pieces of paper, dropping her hand into the bowl and sorting through it before pulling out one of them. As she walked back to the podium, the whole of District 12 held its breath in anticipation. 

I subconsciously searched for Natsu, wanting to try and reassure her, but I couldn’t find her, so I returned my gaze to the stage. 

Tenaizo had opened the piece of paper and was announcing the first Tribute. 

“The first Tribute for the XX year of the Hunger Games is...” I held my breath. “...Kageyama Tobio.” 

Crap, Kageyama got called up?

We talked sometimes, but it’s not like I was super close to him. He had really quick reactions whenever we played a sport, whether it be football or volleyball, but he was snappish, insulted me and several others, and when he played he was demanding, but overall he was just an awkward kid. 

Snapping out of it, I zoned in to hear the next name being read out. Kageyama had made his way onto the stage and was standing awkwardly a metre away from Tenaizo.

“The second Tribute for the XX year of the Hunger Games is Hinata Natsu.”

My heart stopped at hearing Natsu’s name, it taking me a few moments to comprehend the fact that Natsu, sweet innocent Natsu, had been chosen to compete in the Games.

My blood roared in my ears; I had promised I would protect her, so I would follow up on that promise. 

“I volunteer as Tribute!” My hand shot up as I made my way to where the crowd split as a walkway, stopping the Peacekeepers from walking Natsu up to the stage like they had with Kageyama. “I volunteer as Tribute.” My voice almost broke with the desperation I felt; I couldn’t let them take Natsu away, she was too innocent, too kind to go in there.

Tenaizo-san looked surprised, turning towards Rewarai and asking him if it was allowed. 

I couldn’t let Natsu face that arena, she wouldn’t make it out. I wouldn’t be able to watch her deal with the Hunger Games and suffer on TV.

“It has been allowed.” Walking up to the stage, I dug my nails into my palms to stop them shaking. 

“What’s your name?” Crap, Tenaizo-san has asked me a question. My brain took a few seconds before it processed it. 

“Hinata Shoyou,” I replied.

“You’re Natsu’s brother?”

“Yes.”  
____________________________________________

My hands still shook slightly, either from nerves or adrenaline, but I felt slightly numb. 

“Nii-san!” Natsu charged in, hugging me fiercely as tears streamed down her face, Mum doing the same. “Why would you do something like that?”

“Because I promised I would keep you safe,” I replied, blinking fiercely in an effort to stop myself from crying. 

“Shoyou.” I looked my mother in the eye, almost flinching at the fear in them.  
Mum took something out of her pocket before placing it in my hand.

“Wha-?” It was a black crow pin, with the eye being a crimson jewel. 

“It was your father’s and I was going to give it to you as a birthday present, however now I want you to wear it in that arena with pride.” For the first time in years, Mum’s eyes had lit up with determination. 

“Hinata-san, your time is almost up,” a peacekeeper warned us. 

“Nii-san, promise me you won’t give up.” Natsu also had that determination in her eyes. 

“I-I promise.” 

Last minute hugs and ‘I love you’s’ were given, however no one else came and I was escorted to the train station with Kageyama.  
____________________________________________

I was worried, however I knew Mum and Natsu would survive without me bringing in food. 

Mum worked as a Doctor who was paid enough to sustain herself and her family, but wasn’t as rich as the merchants, but she lived with two kids and no husband and was doing alright, albeit luxuries like cake were out of the question. 

We lived pretty far out, bordering the woods, and I had always been curious about the woods from a young age, so Dad had taken me into it several times and had shown me how to hunt. 

He predominantly used traps to catch animals, only using a knife when the prey was fast and able to escape or needed to be finished off with a simple cut. 

Being as fast as I was even though I was small, I climbed trees and explored the forest, always following Dad’s guidance about the forest and weapons. 

Using knives had always been easier for me because I could focus on a target and throw it with force, plus any close up situation could be dealt with if I wasn’t injured too badly.

Knives helped short distance and speed helped catching prey or running away from predators.

Learning about the different flora and fauna had been the difference between life and death when Dad had died, leaving me as man of the house and forcing me to find another way to bring in money. 

The small amount of money the district council had given us to cope with the loss lasted a few months considering Mum had picked herself up and stretched it out to last longer, however basic necessities were needed and I had been around the woods and knew what wildlife was edible and what wasn’t, so using that knowledge was crucial to our survival. 

Learning the small things in the market helped as well, and soon I had developed enough knowledge that, provided the arena had trees and life in it, I would survive in the Hunger Games if I played my cards right, but avoiding the other Tributes was a must. 

I didn’t want to kill anyone in the Games; killing animals was different to killing a human, but it increased the chance of me dying every time I encountered someone. I wouldn’t know how strong the person I could encounter would be until I was in the arena fighting for my life.  
____________________________________________

Most of the train journey had been blurred by nerves, the evening meal being the only thing I remembered.  
Both Kageyama and I were in awe of the food that had been served. 

Thick carrot soup served with butter and bread, thinly sliced pieces of beef served with rich broth and noodles; a rich chocolate cake with salted caramel oozing from the centre, and to finish off, a cheeseboard with several cheeses I didn’t recognise. 

Despite wanting to devour everything in sight, I paced myself, making sure I enjoyed everything and didn’t overdo it; the first time I had eaten a proper meal in ages I had nearly thrown it all up from eating so quickly. However, I still felt a bit sick afterwards. 

Polite conversation was held over the meal between Tenaizo and Ukai, with Kageyama and I contributing rarely, being so focused on the meal in front of us. 

“Hinata-san, Kageyama-san, did you like the food?” Tenaizo attempted to make small talk, probably trying to set us at ease.

“It was amazing!” I breathed out. “Is this what all the food in the Capitol is like Tenaizo-san?” Kageyama nodded along. 

“You can drop the -san, you’ll be around with me for a while. Yes, I suppose. There are several extravagant meals there, however they can be quite rich.” She smiled, her teeth peeking out from the small gap her lips made. Honestly, teeth like that unnerved me.  
“Try and eat as much as you can, you’ll want to build up strength for the games.” 

“So...” Ukai finally spoke up. “What skills do you two have?” 

Kageyama and I eyed each other, neither of us wanting to reveal our skills first. 

“Well?” Ukai was starting to look impatient, so I took the initiative, not wanting to piss off the guy who was meant to get us through the Hunger Games. 

“I can throw knives, set traps and I guess I’m pretty fast,” I responded, not wanting to reveal everything in front of Kageyama.

“You?” Ukai gestured to Kageyama with his cigarette.

“I’m pretty strong and have good aim depending on the weapon.” 

“Any specialities?”

“Spears.” 

“Hm, I actually got a pair who can do something,” Ukai grinned almost scarily, making me internally shudder. 

“So what’s going to happen tomorrow then?” I asked, not wanting to remain in the dark.

“You’ll be with your stylist teams for most of the day,” Tenaizo replied.

“Stylist teams?” Kageyama sounded as surprised as I felt. 

“Have neither of you watched the interviews?” Ukai sighed.

“I did, I just don’t remember them,” I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly as Kageyama agreed with my statement.

“No one from the districts ends up that glamorous without help. Also, don’t question anything they do,” Tenaizo warned. “It just makes the process a lot more difficult on everyone. They’re under orders to do the best job they can and get you more sponsors, so co-operate.” 

Oh crap, sponsors! That would definitely be needed in the arena if I wanted something like medicine or food if I was in a tight spot.

I didn’t remember too much after that, only that we watched people from other districts get chosen. The majority were boys, with District 11 having the only girls.

A few stayed in mind; a boy from District 1 with red hair, both from District 3, one having bleached hair and the other looking like a rooster; a boy from District 4 that had platinum blond hair streaked with black. There was also a boy from District 7 -who looked like the scariest of the lot- with no eyebrows. 

Sleeping was an achievement which I was very proud of considering I didn’t have Natsu to comfort me -or vice versa- and my nerves were causing my stomach to hurt...or maybe it was from all the food I ate yesterday. 

I didn’t have any other clothes besides what I had worn to the Reaping Ceremony, but they didn’t smell bad and they would be taken off of me when I met my stylist team. My father’s pin was still on the shirt...God, I hoped I wouldn’t lose it. Maybe I would ask Tenaizo if I could keep it in the arena?

Brushing my teeth before sorting out my bed hair, I walked down the passageway into the carriage where we had eaten dinner before. 

“Good morning,” Tenaizo greeted me as I walked through the carriage doors.

“Morning.” I rubbed my eyes, still a bit tired.  
Ukai was sitting down next to Tenaizo, drinking coffee as he stared absently out of the window. 

“Um, Tenaizo?” I asked as I started picking what I wanted to eat. There was so much to choose from compared to the meagre breakfast I would’ve had at home! 

“Yes Hinata?”

“Can I keep my pin for my token?” I asked as I gestured to it on my shirt. She paused, staring at it for a few seconds before replying.

“It’ll have to be checked in case it can be used as a weapon, but you should be able to keep it in the arena. Your head stylist will take it to get submitted should you mention it, but I’ll pass it on anyway. Oh, good morning Kageyama.” 

Turning around, I realised Kageyama had also entered the carriage, his hair slightly messier than yesterday. 

“Morning,” he replied quietly, taking a few pieces of toast, prompting me to sort out my own breakfast. 

In the end I took some cereal and fruit, deciding to go easy on my stomach after last night’s meal, but I would never stay away from hot chocolate. I’d only had it once on Christmas Day, but it was amazing and I would always jump at the chance of having it. 

“We’ll arrive at the Capital very soon and there’ll be a lot of paparazzi there, so try and act natural for the camera’s,” Ukai advised us as we ate.

“What’s ‘act natural’ meant to mean? Smile and act like we’re happy to be sent to fight for our lives or be ourselves?” Did Kageyama have no brain to mouth filter or was he this harsh when he was tired? Not that I was saying he was wrong, it’s more that it came out harshly.  
Tenaizo and Ukai looked at each other before Ukai sighed. 

“You can choose, but remember you still have the interviews to get through.” That was still pretty vague and did nothing to calm my nerves. 

Rushing through the paparazzi had been chaos, however Peacekeeper’s had cleared the way in the end and we had made it to the place where we were meant to be prepped. 

All the buildings on the trip had been colourful, windows reflecting the sun and people who almost looked like those clowns on TV staring at us as we went. 

“Okay, this is where we leave you guys until dinner, so behave and don’t make anything difficult for your stylists,” Tenaizo said before leaving with Ukai. 

I barely had the chance to speak before I was rushed away by 3 people, all of them chattering away, Kageyama probably suffering the same fate I was. 

“Do I meet my stylist now or...?” I asked as I walked into a white room with a chair and several things I didn’t know the name of around.

“No, you won’t meet Veira until after we’re finished with you.” That sounded menacing...


	2. The Beginning -Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) I’m back with another chapter! I don’t know how much editing I’ll get done for the next one but I could be quick and have another one up by tomorrow, not sure yet though. 
> 
> 2) I hope you enjoy the chapter! Leave a kudos and a comment!

All of the people were men, one having flaming hair like mine and cerulean eyes -I think his name was Keiro-, another having violet hair and jade eyes -Hazen- and the final man having blonde hair and brown eyes but a lip piercing who called himself Jocae even though Keiro called him ‘Jeha’.

‘Weird Capital customs,’ I thought.

I decided to keep quiet and be compliant for sanity’s sake, but I could feel my will waver after being told I needed to undress. ‘This is going to be a long morning.’ 

They were all vibrant people; Keiro sorted out my nails as he began conversation, often asking for my opinion on a topic to distract me.   
Hazen removed pretty much all the hair from my body except anything on my head whilst listening to the others, sometimes contributing to topics.   
Jocae focused on dealing with my hair, washing it out twice before trimming the ends whilst keeping the flow of conversation going.   
Something he said caught my interest though.

“You know that party I threw a few weeks ago?” He asked, getting nods from Keiro and Hazen. “I was going to order cod, but the company I was going to order from said they were running short on stock!” 

“Really? Same thing happened to me with the newest music chip!” Keiro exclaimed. 

“The one that could download over 5000 songs on it?”   
“Yeah, but the shop said they couldn’t order any because District 3 hadn’t produced enough for them to have a large stock.” 

Wow, Districts 3 and 4 not meeting their quotas for something? Was something going on behind the scenes?   
Interactions with other Districts had been limited since I could remember, so news didn’t get out to anyone besides those in the Capital. 

Being poked and prodded endlessly while stinging all over wasn’t how I wanted my morning to go, so by the time the stylist team had finished I was irritable and wanted to be left alone. 

I wrapped a robe around myself to retain what little body heat I had left and went upstairs to meet my main stylist for lunch, praying they weren’t going to poke me or something like that, but in the end Veira was much calmer than I expected. 

She looked the most natural out of all the people I had met from the Capital so far, having long black hair and electric blue eyes; her clothes were pretty simple too. A lose fitting t-shirt, stripy black and white bottoms and gold high heels.

“Are the people they show on TV dressed to be really flashy on purpose or something? Because most of the people I’ve met from the Capitol dress normally?” I implored. 

“Well pretty much all of the citizens of the Capitol will dress extravagantly in order to appear fashionable or high-status. Some in an important position like an escort or stylist will choose depending on what they want. I know my worth, so I choose being comfortable over stylish,” Veira replied. 

I asked a couple more questions about the people of the Capital and their lifestyle before Veira moved onto outfits. 

“Now, I’m going to make you look the best you ever have in your life, but I want to factor some of your ideas as well. District 12 is mainly represented by coal, but I feel tributes aren’t fully represented by that. You got any ideas?” 

I took a couple of moments to think before saying anything. 

“Coal fuels fires, right? And I plan on getting far in these Hunger Games, so...maybe fire links to passion?” I finished weakly. I wasn’t exactly the smartest in school, scoring slightly below average grades -hah, ironic considering I wanted to become a doctor- but that was the best I could come up with. 

“Hm...I can work with that! I like your thinking Hinata. I’ll come up with an outfit that’ll steal the attention of the crowd!” 

I didn’t know what to think of that.

“What’ll happen to my token?”

“Oh, right, Tenaizo mentioned your token. It’s being processed through at the moment, but it looked pretty harmless to me. Very pretty too...” She paused. “Do you particularly like crows?” 

“I think they’re cool, we see them around District 12 as well.” 

“You do?”

“A lot of things die considering we’re the District that is in the worst amount of poverty,” I said dryly. Veira mumbled something before her eyes twinkled. 

“Thank you very much for your contributions Hinata, I’ll be sure to incorporate them within the outfits I make for you! You have more prep now because you need to be sorted out for the opening ceremony, but I’ll see you in a few hours once the prep team is done with you.”   
____________________________________________

Once the prep team was finished with me -thank God as well, I hated being prodded like I was- Veira walked into the room holding a few things. 

I hadn’t been allowed to see myself in the mirror yet, so I hoped I looked alright as Veira congratulated the stylist team on how well they did before asking them to step out.

“Right, I’ll need you to put these on first,” Veira instructed as she held up a pair of black trousers and a dark grey shirt. The sleeves went down to my elbow which felt weird, but the rest of the outfit was comfortable. 

Once I had put those on, she instructed me to put on a sleeveless coat with three buttons going down the middle, which was again black, but when I held it, the coat felt heavier than what it should. When I asked Veira why it felt heavy, all I received was a wink. A pair of black shoes followed.

“Okay, you can look at yourself now,” Veira said as she stepped backwards. 

“Woah...”

The first thing I noticed was my hair; it had a few long black streaks which somehow made it look cool. I had never considered myself with black hair before. 

The outfit was dark and the coat weighed me down, but my arms had marks where gold and black made several patterns and intertwined at places. 

“Wow...thank you.” I smiled at Veira. 

“It’s my job,” she chuckled. “Now, lets go downstairs and meet the others so you can get into your chariot.” 

“Wait, we’re riding a chariot?!” 

Going down in the lift had finally kicked off my nerves as I started to feel slightly nauseated. 

Walking around and seeing the other tributes was another thing entirely, but I was too focused on not throwing up that I managed to ignore them and make it to where Ukai, Tenaizo, Kageyama and his stylist were waiting. 

Some of the tributes -mainly those who were going to head out onto the runway first- were already on their chariots, whereas others from 9 and 10 were still on the ground.

“Barely on time as usual Veira,” the other stylist grinned -his teeth were also sharp?!- as I took in Kaeyama’s appearance. 

He was wearing the same outfit me but his hair and arms were done differently; his muscular arms had a blue and black colour scheme -same patterns though- and his hair had dark blue streaks running through it...wait, they sparkled if they caught the light! That was so cool!

“Impressive as always,” Tenaizo smiled. 

“Great job,” Ukai nodded as he smoked another cigarette. He was cleanly shaven and was wearing a suit which made him look more intimidating than he did back at home.

“So, you two ready to be lit on fire?” Kageyama’s stylist asked, displaying his sharp teeth as he grinned.

“What?!”

“Ari, you needn’t to tell them like that!” Veira scolded him. “The fire is harmless and the most you’ll feel is a prickling sensation. Hinata gave me the idea earlier and Ari happened to agree. Now get on the chariot so we can sort you out!” 

I barely had time to protest before I stumbling onto the thing that would parade us around the citizens of the Capital and live TV across Panem.

The horses that were supposed to pull us were charcoal grey -was that on purpose or coincidence?- were still as the chariot in front of us pulled out.

My heartbeat picked up as I realised we were next and my palms started sweating, so I wiped my hands on my trousers.

“Dumbass, what did you say to get her to think of setting us on fire?” Kageyama snarled at me, but I could tell he was as scared as I was. 

“I honestly don’t remember Kageyama,” I shot back, trying to stop the anxiety of being seen by everyone from getting to me. 

“Okay, this fire will burn until you come back here and we shut the mechanism off. The chariot ride is gonna be a bit bumpy so you can hold onto the railings to keep steady. We’ll see you soon!” Veira rushed the explanation as warmth suddenly was felt across my back and the horses started moving, making me stumble backwards slightly before Kageyama caught me.

The prickling sensation built up as our chariot wobbled, the roar of the crowd was getting louder and louder and my heartbeat was speeding up-

“You’re not going to be sick or anything?” Kageyama asked, his grip also tight on the rail.

“N-no,” I gritted out as I gripped the railing to keep steady. 

Looking at the banners that acted like cameras, I was startled to see my face that close. Was this what everyone across Panem was seeing? Noticing the fire behind me, I looked closer into the camera before realising the fire was coming from the coat, Kageyama’s being the same! 

So was this was Veira had planned? 

We looked astonishing, screams from those in the audience mimicking what I felt inside. 

Again, the chariot rocked and I almost lost my balance until Kageyama gripped my hand. 

“Thanks,” I mumbled, but it didn’t look like Kageyama heard it. An idea struck me, so I decided to test it.   
I started raising our joint hands, Kageyama not protesting until our hands were almost above the railing. 

“What are you doing?” He hissed, almost letting go of my hand.

“Just trust me, okay?” I replied, seeing the final stretch ahead of us. Kageyama hesitated a few seconds before nodding. 

Quickly, I lifted our hands up for everyone to see: a sign of unity. 

The crowd roared with excitement, deafening me to the point where I forgot how sick I felt over the uneasiness of being unable to hear, but it was worth it to see Kageyama’s surprised look. 

He looked alright when he wasn’t scowling at everyone, hell I wasn’t sure if anyone had seen him smile besides his family, but he looked incredible with his flames. 

Too soon, we reached the centre of the loop and our chariot stopped, so I dropped our hands and waited for President Naisenka to speak. 

I didn’t hate too many things, but I despised the existence of this man completely. 

With the cameras magnifying his face for the whole of Panem to see, I realised his grey hair was turning white and his eyes were a cruel black. Initially I had thought they were really dark brown because the TV didn’t allow us to have decent quality viewing but turns out you could have completely black eyes. 

As the man made his speech, I realised Kageyama and I’s flames were still going, enrapturing my attention. It seemed the flames were really shaped like feathers as well!

“Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favour,” President Naisenka smiled -a fake thing really- before waving at the crowd and walking away.


	3. Waiting...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) I’m really getting out these chapters which is something I didn’t expect, but this is just me editing and reposting what I already have.  
> Once I post the fourth chapter the updates will be much slower, so I won’t post it until I’ve got some more written. 
> 
> 2) I might post a certain fic a week early (it’s for Haikyuu angst week and I’m impatient) or I’ll update something else, it depends. Either way, except that after Friday night. 
> 
> 3) Leave a kudos and a comment and I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Now that the Opening Ceremony was done with, we had 3 days of training before our private sessions, the interviews and then the Games. 

Kageyama and I had agreed with Ukai that we would stick together during the training sessions, but he had mentioned to try and make allies as well.

On the first day we were all introduced to Apheila, a lady who was in charge of the training centre, but all she did was explain the rules, the main one being don’t attack any of the other tributes. 

Over the course of the first day, Kageyama and I made it through the first few stations, with me excelling at edible plants and him at hand-to-hand combat. 

There was a simulation area, however the Career tributes were taking turns using that and I wasn’t keen on interacting with them.

We stayed clear of the Career tributes, especially Ushijima and his partner -Tendou- who had crazy red hair.

The one who looked the most friendly out of the Career Tributes was Bokuto, a guy with crazy black and platinum hair which was spiked up. His partner, Akaashi, was really quiet though. I wondered how good he was at stealth?

Both Kageyama and I kept notes on who used what; Ushijima specialised in swords, Tendou in knives. Oikawa and Iwaizumi both used spears, however Iwaizumi was better in hand-to-hand combat and Oikawa had deadly accuracy with knives. 

Bokuto used tridents with a ridiculous amount of force while Akaashi used a bow and arrow with complete accuracy.

There were murmurs going around about the twins from District 6 joining the Career group which were kinda worrying considering the Miya twins were a force to be reckoned with, so we paid attention to them too. 

I kept my head down for most of these sessions, not wanting to piss off any of them before we even got into the arena, but I was itching to use the knives at some point. I needed to get an idea of what I might be working with should I get my hands on them during the Games. 

“Ne, Kageyama?” I asked whilst we were working at the camouflage station.

“What?”

“Do you reckon we should have a go at our strengths? If we get our hands on them in the arena we may not have time to get used to them.” Ukai hadn’t said no to us using our strengths inside the training sessions, but he did say do all the other things first. 

“I’m up for it. Don’t piss anyone off while you’re there boke,” he replied, eyeing the spears.

“I’m not a dumbass, so stop calling me one.” 

“Whatever you say boke.” Kageyama was way out of earshot by the time I had figured out a reply, and I didn’t want to yell at him and drag attention to myself, so I said nothing. 

No one was at the throwing knives station, so I felt less nervous about being by myself. 

Picking up a set of knives which resembled the knives I would use at home, I went towards the still targets, wanting to get an idea of what I could use in the Games.

Aiming the first knife at the heart of the dummy, I threw it, frowning as it landed slightly lower. So these things had more weight to them? 

I took a bit more time to get used to the knives than I would’ve liked, but as time went on it was easier and soon I was hitting all the vital spots from a good distance.

I was debating moving over to where the moving targets were when Kageyama came up to me.

“You’re done with the spears already?” I asked, surprised.

“Unlike you, I don’t take forever to get used to the weapons,” Kageyama shot back, looking behind his shoulder quickly. I followed his gaze to find Oikawa looking at us.

“Kageyama I swear to Kami if you pissed off one of the Career tributes-” 

“That’s the thing, I didn’t! I was working with the spears when I realised Oikawa was analysing me, and when I looked at him he glared at me.” 

Sighing, I put down my knives before we went to the next station, wanting to avoid any more trouble.

I was doing fairly well at traps, quite a few being the ones I used at home. I learned a couple of new ones, one being very simple but very efficient, as it would have your target hanging upside-down by the ankle. 

There was the boy from District 3 there as well, the one with bleached hair at the ends. He looked more like a pudding head actually...not that I would say it to his face. 

Overall, he was quiet and his hair was always obscuring his face, but he made the traps accurately and had an observant aura around him.

His partner -rooster-head guy- was hanging out with Bokuto at the sparring station and I was tempted to talk to pudding-head, now that the intimidation factor was gone, but I wasn’t completely sure how to approach him. 

Every once in a while, he would tilt his head so that he could see his partner and then look at the box where the Game Keepers were before focusing on whatever trap he was making, tempting me to ask why he kept on looking that way.

As I gathered the courage to question him, the head instructor called out that training time was up and we needed to head to our floors.

There was time for us to get changed before dinner, me changing into a pair of bottoms and a plain t-shirt before heading down to the dining hall where Ukai, Kageyama and Tenaizo were. 

Avoxes served rich miso soup as Ukai asked how training went, neither Kageyama or I willing to comment much.

“We went through edible plants and hand-to-hand combat before we separated to go to our specialities,” I said as we waited for the next course to be served, fidgeting slightly with nervous energy. Everything looked so expensive and I felt I would ruin it just by touching it. 

“So tomorrow you’re going to go through the rest?” 

Kageyama’s eyes met mine, prompting me to nod before taking some of the steaming meat placed before me and placing it on my plate.

As soon as I tasted it my mouth exploded with flavours! What the hell? The Capital was able to get this standard of food yet some districts were left to starve?! 

I didn’t speak for the duration of the main course, too absorbed in eating as much of the meat as I could before it cooled down, Ukai and Tenaizo’s polite conversation filtering in at times.

“Normally there’s sushi, how come there isn’t this time?” Ukai implored after he took a sip from his glass.

“Someone mentioned District 4 didn’t complete their quota again, so the Capital is in low stock and they’re reserving it for special events.” 

“Even something as common as salmon?” 

“Yes, it’s pretty weird. Normally District 4 completes their quota early, in fact half the time it’s over what is needed or they complete it early!”

I ignored the rest of the conversation in favour of relaxing, my body ready to sleep after today’s training. 

“Hinata, Kageyama, what’s your plan on allies?” Ukai asked, startling me from my semi-dozing state and making me almost fall off my chair. 

“Allies? I mean, having some would be useful, but wouldn’t that mean they could stab you in the back later on in the arena?” I asked as I looked over to Kageyama. His brow was furrowed and his scowl had come back full force. 

“It’s unlikely they will in the beginning,” Tenaizo replied as she placed her cutlery down, “there are too many Tributes in the arena and there are strength in numbers, especially at the start. Anyone who you have your eyes on at the moment?”

“Not yet.” I nodded along with Kageyama’s statement.

“I feel like District 3 and 4 have an alliance though, remember Bokuto and that rooster-haired guy?” I asked Kageyama, carrying on when he nodded. “They were pretty friendly with each other.”

“There’s definitely going to be a Career group this year, however District 6 are joining them.”

Kageyama blinked, speaking after a few seconds.   
“The twins?” Ukai nodded. “Blondie specialises in spears and his brother uses daggers. They both do sparring.” 

“Eh? When did you see them doing that stuff?” I exclaimed, cursing myself for not noticing these things myself.

“They were at the stations before or after us boke.”

“Stop calling me a dumbass!”


	4. Waiting...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) You know I’m procrastinating when I update something that hasn’t been updated since 3 months ago. I decided to change to 3rd person because I’m lazy and cba to change the other chapters yet, but I’ll edit them when I have time.
> 
> 2) I’m working on old stuff bc writing new stuff seems like something I can’t get to yet. I still have 2 fics to write for and a God AU and 40 other projects that I haven’t started :)
> 
> 3) Enjoy the chapter and leave a kudos and comment on this!

The next morning was pretty much the same, with him and Kageyama going through a few more stations before lunch; they decided to sit alone, having said the night before that they wanted to keep to themselves. 

“Thought about anyone for an ally yet?” He asked, munching on some teriyaki chicken he’d picked up from the buffet, frowning slightly when Kageyama grunted in response before drinking more of his milk- hell where did he even get that from? “We’ve got the rest of the day to ask any of the others. Who’re you avoiding?”

“All of them.” 

He blinked, stunned at the fact Kageyama wanted to go it alone. While he was wary of having allies, he knew it would increase his chances of survival if he was careful. 

He decided not to comment, seeing as everyone was here and he didn’t want to make a scene. 

“You wanna split up for some of the afternoon?” 

“Yeah.” 

After lunch finished, he went over to the climbing station where several areas were. It took the length of the training room, one side having tree branches sticking out of the wall and the other having a stone wall that looked like the side of a mountain. 

Deciding to stick to what he knew first, he sprinted and jumped up to grab one of the higher tree branches, deftly grabbing them as he climbed higher and used his momentum to move forwards, reaching the end quickly. 

Dropping down, he noticed pudding-head -he really needed to find out the other boy’s name- was staring at him with calculating eyes. 

As soon as their eyes met, he looked away and carried on doing what he was doing.

Turning away, he watched a girl with blonde hair gracefully make her way up the stone wall, her movements swift and quiet. Wasn’t she one of the girls from District 11? 

Approaching the stone wall, he decided the best way to tackle it was to test where the grips were like he did with the thin branches at the top of trees and go from there. 

It was a tedious process, and if he was this slow in the arena he would be dead, but he would rather learn here at a slow pace than learn in the arena facing death, even as sweat trickled down his temple.

There was an area where the stone hung over the training area that he had to climb over to get to the top, but he didn’t have a clue how to get over it. After all, District 12 only had a forest on its borders, not a mountain range. 

All of the area hung over at different angles, so he assumed the areas where the angle was less harsh were used to get over the areas where it was nearly a horizontal ledge. 

Braving himself for a possible fall, he grappled at the nooks and crannies available, reaching the halfway mark before one of his sweaty hands lost its grip and he fell, letting out an ‘oomph’ as he made contact with the cushioned floor. 

Wiping his hands on his clothes, he glared at the stone before trying again several times. 

It was his sixth time attempting to climb up the thing, irritability making him not notice the blonde-haired girl was with him until he made it to the overhang and watched her do it. 

She used the harshly angled stone to pull herself up as she used her hands to grip the wall that wasn’t angled too badly, swinging her body over once she had enough over it over the rock-face.

Trying to remember her movements, he pushed himself up with his legs while using his arms to stay on the wall, slowly crawling up until the upper half of his body was on the other side of the overhang. 

Swinging the rest of his body over the ledge, he internally celebrated getting over it when he realised the girl was a metre away from him, yelping in surprise and almost falling off of the edge. 

“A-ah! Sorry for surprising you!” She apologised as she bowed. She was pretty skinny, but then again, any district after district 5 wasn’t the richest out there and it’s citizens couldn’t afford much.

“No it’s fine, it’s my fault for not realising you were there,” he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “You’re from District 11 right?” 

“U-um, I’m Yachi Hitoka.”

“Hinata Shoyo from District 12.” Grinning, he looked over the training centre, finding Kageyama near the traps station again. “Where’s your partner?”

“She’s training with knives I think...” A silence went between us before he asked something else.

“Where’d you learn to climb like that Yachi-san? I know District 11 is agriculture, but you don’t have mountains around there do you? You’re super cool!”

“...because we’re kids, all of us are sent to climb trees to pick the fruit, so I think practice helped a lot. We don’t have any mountains though.” 

“But you aced this part! It was super difficult.” 

“If a-anyone’s amazing at climbing it’s you Hinata-san! I saw how you made it through those trees in n-no time!” 

“Yeah, but that’s trees. I kept falling because of the overhang but you climbed it like there was no problem!” 

They chatted for a bit longer before Yachi suggested that they should climb down, saying that her partner wanted to meet her after a certain amount of time, making him remember that he and Kageyama needed to meet up as well. 

“Thanks for the talk Yachi-san,” he grinned before walking towards where Kageyama was, catching pudding-head’s eyes on him again.  
_____________________________________________

“Either of you want to offer an alliance to another district?” Ukai asked as they ate their dessert.

“...I’m thinking of offering to Yachi-san- she’s from District 11, but I’m not sure yet,” he replied hesitantly, avoiding Kageyama’s gaze. 

“Well confirm it by tomorrow. What about you Kageyama?”

“No one yet.” That’s it.

Once they’d finished the meal and were walking out of the dining hall, he grabbed Kageyama by the wrist and dragged him to the balcony. 

“Boke what are you doing?” He snarled, wrenching his hand out of his grasp and glaring at him.

“What’s your plan for the first part of the games? Are you going to go it alone or what? ‘Cause if you’re not interested in an alliance with me then say so, because I want to know if you’re going to be my enemy or my ally in these games!” He yelled, pissed off about not knowing.

“What’re your plans?” He fired back.

“My plans depend on your plans. I want one of us to win these games and get out of the Capitol with a good life ahead, but you’re not saying if you want an alliance between us or not Bakayama!” Panting slightly, he watched Kageyama’s scowl fade away as he went into thought, the silence only growing until his gaze suddenly met his own.

“Prove you’ve got some competence tomorrow and we can be allies. I don’t want to rely on a burden.” 

“What?! Weren’t you watching the other day when I was throwing knives? Or when we were doing combat?” 

“You either dodged the trainer’s moves or landed weak hits and I wasn’t there for when you threw knives.” 

“Well then watch me tomorrow!”


	5. Interacting with the enemy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) This is the slowest updating fic I’ve ever done ngl. I’m tempted to rewrite the story but I’m already this far and won’t have the time to rewrite it...idk I’ll figure something out.  
> Remember, I wrote this when I was first introduced to Haikyuu!! and have different favourite characters to then, so yea...
> 
> 2) Writing is abt to be hard w exams around the corner, so idk what will happen then.
> 
> 3) Enjoy the chapter and leave a kudos and comment!

There was more of an edge on the last day of training, everyone becoming a bit more hostile towards each other, but some last minute alliances were made from the look of it. 

The Miya twins were hanging around the Careers, but the rooster-head guy from District 3 was around glasses-guy from District 8. 

“Where should we go to first?” He asked Kageyama, nodding along when he said he wanted to practice traps again. 

“How come you wanna come here so much? You were here yesterday as well,” he said as he tested out another snare, grinning when it worked. 

“Shut up boke,” he replied, scowling when his snare didn’t work. “I’m not going to die of starvation of all the things.”

“Look here Bakayama,” he shuffled over, correcting Kageyama’s snare. “That’s how it works, now try it again.” 

Correcting Kageyama’s snares occasionally, he realised that pudding-head was here again, observing what we were doing while working on his own traps. He kept on looking back at the gamekeepers- okay that’s it! He was going to interact pudding-head. 

He was attaching a pouch filled with something to some wire when he approached, squatting next to him. 

“Which trap are you working on?” He asked, internally wincing when he flinched. So much for trying to be friendly.

He hung his head down, strands falling into his face before replying. “...ankle.” Ah, so the one that left someone hanging by their ankle! 

“That’s cool! How come you’re doing it with that though? Surely it would make it less noticeable?” 

“It lures the person in and increases the chances of them being caught,” he mumbled. Wow, he’d never thought of that before. It’d be a good distraction or a way to kill someone- not that he wanted to kill anyone! He only wanted to survive. 

“That’s so awesome! What’s your name? I’m Hinata Shoyou.” He looked at him, admiration flowing through him even though guilty churned in his gut when the other boy flinched when he became excited.   
He glanced back at where the gamekeepers were before looking back down. “Um...how come you keep on looking at the gamekeepers?” 

He hesitated before he replied.

“My name is Kozume Kenma. You see that ripple in the bottom left corner?” Kozume titled his head towards it, making his gaze follow the movement only to see a small ripple in the corner. 

“Yeah...what is it?” He asked as his eyebrows raised, startled at how observant Kozume was. That would be a force to be reckoned with in the games, even if Kozume didn’t appear that strong.

“It’s a forcefield. Rumour has it that a girl shot an arrow at the gamekeepers a few years back and they’ve had the forcefield ever since,” he smirked. 

“Wow, I would never have the guts to do that,” he admitted, still staring at the ripple, fascinated by the movement. Would they have that in the arena? 

“Oi, boke, I’m moving to another station,” Kageyama barked out, walking towards the spears.

“Ah, I’ll leave as well then. It was nice talking to you Kozume-san!” He smiled at Kozume as he walked away.  
_____________________________________________

To say he was praying that Kageyama wouldn’t be his enemy in the arena was an understatement. His accuracy was dead on and never missed, even on the moving targets! 

While his own aim was good, jis strength wasn’t; he never had enough force to throw the spear where he wanted it to go and the balance was weird compared to a knife, so he decided to avoid spears in the arena. 

Knife throwing was back to his comfort zone, with him hitting the targets dead on and debating whether to go into the simulation considering no one else was there. Maybe he could use that for my private session? 

“Stop spacing out boke,” Kageyama snapped at him as his knife landed in the stomach of his dummy.

“Nice shot.”

“I was aiming for the head.” 

It’s not like he could give out many tips; it took him years of training to get to the level of accuracy he had now. 

A bell rang.

“All right tributes, stop what you’re doing. You’re going to have lunch and then your private sessions!” Aphelia called out, her voice ringing clear as day over the silent training room. 

There were varied reactions; some of the Careers started grinning whilst Kozume and his partner started murmuring things to each other. 

Lunch was a quiet matter, tributes talking to their partners about what they were going to do for the private sessions. 

“Any plans on how high a score you’re aiming for?” He asked Kageyama while poking his rice in front of him.   
It was better to go light before this particular event, he would throw up from nerves if he didn’t take it easy. 

“Anything above an 8 is good,” Kageyama grunted. “What about you?”

“‘M not sure yet.” 

Lunch ended sooner than he would’ve liked it to, everyone waiting for their names to be called. 

Fidgeting in my seat after a short ride in the lift, he focused on not throwing up whatever he’d eaten in the past hour, flinching whenever a robotic voice called out a name and broke the quiet. 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11- then it was him calling out good luck to Kageyama on a whim before waiting on his own. 

How long had it been? An hour and a half since the first Tribute was called in? 

“Hinata Shoyou, please enter the training room now,” the robotic voice demanded, almost making him jump off the bench in shock after being in silence for what seemed like ages.

Flinching as the lift doors opened to reveal the training room, he glanced at the gamekeepers as they sipped their blood-coloured wine and watched him with the eyes of predators.

Letting out a shaky breath, he headed towards the knife area and grabbing the set he’d used during training before walking to the simulation, fumbling around with the technicalities before getting the right settings. 

Taking a calming breath, he listened to the mechanical voice count down before the simulation started, knife already in hand, a single thought in mind.

‘Don’t let the simulations touch me.’


End file.
